Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman

Lord Framlingham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff were employed, and what was the total annual cost, of the Office of the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman in its first full year of operation and for the most recent year for which figures are available.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Information about the costs and staffing of the Office of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is included in the ombudsman's annual reports to Parliament. Copies of annual reports are available in the Libraries of the House, and are also available on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's website at http://www. ombudsman.org.uk
	The office had its first full year of operation as the combined Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in 1973. The office does not hold comparable data from 1973.

Population

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any policy towards limiting the population of the United Kingdom; and, if so, what it is; and, if not, why not.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: There are many factors influencing population levels in the UK, both at a national and local level, that the Government have no power to control, e.g. birth and death rates, personal inclination. The Government have extensive policies in areas that affect population levels, such as immigration and health, while population levels are closely affected by policy relating to housing, employment and infrastructure to name but a few. The variation in population in different areas of the United Kingdom means that no single policy on population growth or decline would be appropriate.

Abu Dhabi

Lord Singh of Wimbledon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Abu Dhabi about the conviction in absentia and subsequent arrest of Cyril Karabus.

Baroness Warsi: The Government have not made any representations to the Government in Abu Dhabi regarding Mr Cyril Karabus's arrest as he is not a British national. We understand that he is currently subject to a legal process and is awaiting trial. As a South African national, Mr Karabus will be entitled to consular assistance from the embassy of the Republic of South Africa in the United Arab Emirates. We understand that the Government of South Africa have made representations to the Emirati Government.
	The Government consistently make clear in discussions with the Emirati Government the importance of ensuring due process in all cases, to allow defendants access to legal counsel and for trials to be independent and follow the international rule of law.

Asylum Seekers

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the Governments of other European Union member states regarding variations in the number of years of residency required before nationality is granted to asylum seekers and other migrants; and whether they will decline benefits to such European Union nationals who move to the United Kingdom until they have been resident in the European Union for five years as required to become a naturalised United Kingdom citizen.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Policy on the acquisition of citizenship is a matter for individual member states to determine. Once an individual acquires the nationality of a member state they are subject to the same entitlement conditions for access to benefits as any other national of that European Union member state.

BBC: Charter

Lord Morris of Aberavon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any progress has been made in the consideration of a new charter for the BBC; and, if so, whether a specific part of it will be devoted to S4C.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The BBC charter is in place until the end of 2016. The charter and agreement will need to be reviewed before then but no decision has yet been made as to what the new charter will cover.

BBC: Staff

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to seek, with the acting director of the BBC about the use of compromise agreements in relation to departing BBC employees and contractors.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to seek, with the director of BBC Northern Ireland about the use of compromise agreements in relation to departing BBC employees and contractors.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to seek, with the director of BBC Scotland about the use of compromise agreements in relation to departing BBC employees and contractors.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or intend to seek, with the director of BBC Wales about the use of compromise agreements in relation to departing BBC employees and contractors.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: There have been no discussions with the directors of the BBC in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland regarding compromise agreements in relation to departing BBC employees and contractors. Under the terms of the BBC's charter and agreement, the BBC is operationally and editorially independent of government and there is no provision for the Government to intervene in the corporation's day-to-day operations.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma on the torture and ill treatment of political prisoners by the Government of Burma.

Baroness Warsi: We closely follow the work of the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, and have regular discussions with him. These have covered the full range of issues highlighted by Mr Quintana in his reporting, including the issue of political prisoners. Our officials most recently met with Mr Quintana in Geneva on 11 March.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last made representations to the Government of Burma about the cases of political prisoners Win Myint, Kan Min Thar, and Tun Oo; and what was the response.

Baroness Warsi: We have not made specific representations regarding Win Myint, Kan Min Thar, and Tun Oo. We continue to press for the unconditional release of political prisoners with senior members of the Burmese Government, as the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), did during his visit to Burma in December 2012; and as the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), did during the recent visit of the Burmese Foreign Minister to London in their meeting on 11 February.

Burma

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what projects they are supporting to build parliamentary institutions in Burma.

Baroness Warsi: The Government see Burma's Parliament as crucial to the country's reform process and to the long term development of an effective democracy. We began our engagement by hosting a visit from the Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann to the UK in April 2012.
	The Department for International Development is funding the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) to facilitate exchange visits between the UK and Burmese Parliaments. The first stage of this project included a scoping visit by cross-party British MPs in July 2012. WFD will facilitate a visit by the chair and key members of the Burmese Public Accounts Committee to the UK in spring 2013, to be followed up with a training session for MPs in Burma. In December 2012, at the request of Aung San Suu Kyi, we also facilitated a visit to the UK by three Burmese MPs from the Draft Bills Committee. Following that visit, we are working with Aung San Suu Kyi and Shwe Mann to identify where else the UK could in future best support the development of Burma's Parliament.

Burma

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what expenses the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has incurred in relation to Spitfires allegedly buried in Burma.

Baroness Warsi: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not incurred any expenses, over and above those attributable to the normal day-to-day activities of operating our embassy in Rangoon, in relation to Spitfires allegedly buried in Burma.

Chagos Islands

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Foreign Secretary on 20 December 2012, what are the fundamental difficulties they envisage with resettlement in the Chagos Islands; and when they will appoint a date for meeting the Chagos Islands (BIOT) All-Party Parliamentary Group so that the views of that group can be taken into account in their stocktaking of their policy on resettlement.

Baroness Warsi: The fundamental difficulties are numerous. Any long-term settlement would be precarious and very costly. The outer islands, which have been uninhabited for 40 years, are low-lying and lack all basic facilities and infrastructure. The cost of infrastructure and public services could become a heavy ongoing contingent liability for the UK taxpayer. There are also defence considerations.
	As the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), said in his letter of 24 February to the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group, he would be happy to meet the group later in the year when the Government has made progress with the review.

Communications

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the communications White Paper will be published; and what will be the timetable for its consideration.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The communications paper is due to be published in the spring and a full 12-week consultation will follow.

Education: Numeracy and Literacy

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote better numeracy and literacy for adults.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: In the last spending review the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) secured continued funding of English and maths courses for adults who lack these basic skills. In 2011-12 this funding has supported 772,500 learners aged 19 and over to take a maths course, and 782,500 to take an English course, and we are now funding GCSE English and maths qualifications for adults from the 2012-13 academic year. We have brought in new freedoms and flexibilities whereby FE colleges and providers have a single adult skills budget which enables them to respond to learner and employer needs locally.

Eritrea

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they have received about the kidnapping of Eritrean refugees in the desert area of north Sinai; and what assessment of that information they have made.

Baroness Warsi: We are aware of media and non-governmental organisation reports about the kidnap and treatment of Eritrean refugees in the Sinai. We have little first-hand information because of the ongoing security situation. We are concerned about the situation of the refugees and will look for opportunities to tackle this issue. We have discussed this with the Egyptian authorities and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Cairo, the organisation which is delegated to deal with asylum seekers by the Egyptian Government, and which is in contact with the Israeli and Eritrean authorities.

EU: European Investment Bank

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the loan applications to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1) by Monsanto Corporation to guarantee operations in Russia and eastern Europe, and (2) by a consortium to enlarge an existing oil refinery at Mostorod, a district of urban Cairo; and whether they will consult the International Energy Agency about the latter.

Baroness Northover: The UK assesses all project proposals made by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to ensure that they promote the bank's objective of supporting the development of market economies. We would also consider the extent to which other sources of finance are available.
	The government understand that the EBRD discussed with the Monsanto Corporation the possibility of providing support to their operations in Russia and central eastern Europe, but no proposal is now envisaged.
	The bank is in the early stages of considering a loan to the Egyptian Refinery Company for the development of its plant in Greater Cairo. As the project progresses, the Government will assess their support for the project against the usual criteria for bank operations. Any decision on whether to consult the International Energy Agency on the project would be made in the light of the content of the project.

EU: Taxation

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 5 March (HL Deb, col. 1377), what taxes the United Kingdom helps to collect within European Union law.

Lord Deighton: Under the mutual assistance recovery directive, EU member states provide each other with assistance in the recovery of tax debts and duties. There is no definitive list of these taxes; the directive requires the UK to collect unpaid taxes and duties of any kind levied by or on behalf of a member state or its territorial or administrative subdivision, including local taxes, or customs duties on behalf of the Union.

EU: Taxation

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 5 March (HL Deb, col 1378), whether they are actively seeking an agreement to a global financial transaction tax.

Lord Deighton: The UK will proactively engage in any future international discussions on the issue of a financial transaction tax.
	Through international discussions, including those of the G20 in 2011, it is clear that a consensus for the introduction of a global financial transaction tax does not currently exist.

EU: Taxation

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 5 March (HL Deb, col 1377), whether there will be a revised European Union treaty affecting only eurozone countries directly; whether the United Kingdom would be involved indirectly in collecting the financial transaction tax; and, if so, whether the agreement of all 27 member states would be required to implement it.

Lord Deighton: On 14 February, the European Commission published a proposal for implementing a financial transaction tax through enhanced co-operation. This cites existing EU treaty provisions which allow the use of enhanced co-operation where agreement of all 27 member states cannot be achieved.
	Under the mutual assistance recovery directive, EU member states provide each other with assistance in the recovery of tax debts and duties. There is no definitive list of these taxes; the directive requires member states to collect unpaid taxes and duties of any kind levied by or on behalf of another member state or its territorial or administrative subdivision, including local taxes, or on behalf of the Union where they meet agreed criteria.

Flooding: Insurance

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in their negotiations with the insurance industry over the provision of insurance for housing in locations at high risk of flooding; and when they expect to publish proposals for action.

Lord De Mauley: I refer the noble Lord to the previous answer my honourable friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) gave in another place on 24 January 2013: Official Report, col. 407W.

Health: Cancer

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the pancreatic cancer survival rates for each region of England.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK statistics authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for Office for National Statistics, to Lord Wigley, dated March 2013
	As director-general for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for pancreatic cancer survival rates for each region of England. [HL6291]
	ONS publishes one and five-year cancer net survival estimates for adults (aged 15 to 99 years) in England, for the 21 common cancers. The latest published figures are for adults diagnosed during 2006-10 and followed up to 2011.
	Table 1 provides the latest one and five-year survival figures for pancreatic cancer in England, for males, females and for males and females combined.
	The latest published figures on cancer survival in England are available on the National Statistics website.
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-21521
	The latest figures on geographic patterns of cancer survival will be published on the National Statistics website on 18 April 2013, and will contain information on survival for each region for cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, colon, lung, breast, cervix, prostate and bladder.
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-228284
	Information on survival from pancreatic cancer is not available at a regional level. Survival from pancreatic cancer is very low, so it is not possible to calculate reliable survival estimates for individual regions.
	
		
			 Table 1: One-year and five-year net survival (percentage)1, with 95 per cent confidence intervals2, for males and females (aged 15-99 years)3 diagnosed with pancreatic cancer4 during 2006-2010: England 
			 Sex Number of patients One-year survival Five-year survival 
			   % 95%CI % 95%CI 
			 Men 15,928 18 17.3 18.7 3.9 3.3 4.6 
			 Women 16,392 19.6 18.9 20.3 4.4 3.8 5.1 
			 Persons 32,320 18.7 18.2 19.2 4.1 3.7 4.6 
		
	
	1. Net survival is an estimate of the probability of survival from the cancer alone. It can be interpreted as the survival of cancer patients after taking into account the background mortality that the patients would have experienced if they had not had cancer.
	2. A 95% confidence interval is a measure of the uncertainty around an estimate. It provides a range around the estimated value within which we have a 95% level of confidence that the true value for the population is likely to fall.
	3. All adults (aged 15 to 99 years) in England who were diagnosed during 2006-10 with an invasive, primary, malignant neoplasm were eligible for analysis. Ineligible patients were those whose tumour was benign (not malignant) or in situ (malignant but not invasive) or of uncertain behaviour (uncertain whether benign or malignant), or for which the organ of origin was unknown.
	4. Pancreatic cancer is coded as C25 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).

Housing

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government , further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hanham on 27 February (WA 316), how much of the £250 million announced for the original FirstBuy Schemes was paid by each devolved Government.

Baroness Hanham: This information is not held by the department.
	Under the Barnett formula the devolved Administrations received a proportion of the £250 million that was announced for the original FirstBuy scheme. It is for the devolved Administrations to decide how the funding is spent and to monitor expenditure.

Housing

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many homes were (1) built, and (2) sold, by (a) local authorities, and (b) housing associations, in each year since 1983.

Baroness Hanham: Statistics on housebuilding completions by tenure are published in the department's live tables 244 (calendar year) and 253 (financial year) which are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building.
	A table giving statistics on homes sold by local authorities and private registered providers (previously known as registered social landlords or housing associations) is being placed in the Library of the House.

Housing Benefit

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether discretionary housing payment (DHP) funds provided to local authorities are ring-fenced in total, and within each category of DHP; and whether local authorities can top up from their general funds the amount provided for DHP.

Lord Freud: Local authorities receive a single allocation towards discretionary housing payments and can increase this from their own funds, up to two and a half times the government contribution.
	The overall allocation local authorities receive is ring fenced. Local authorities have flexibility within the overall fund to deal with local circumstances arising from the housing reforms.

Iraq

Lord Dobbs: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the gross domestic product of Iraq in 2000, 2001, 2002 and in the latest year for which figures are available.

Baroness Warsi: The Government do not produce estimates for Iraq's gross domestic product (GDP). However the World Bank has produced estimates for Iraq's annual GDP between 2000-02 and 2011.
	
		
			 2011 $115.4 Billion 
			 2002 $18.9 Billion 
			 2001 $18.9 Billion 
			 2000 $25.8 Billion 
		
	
	Source: www.data.worldbank.org

Iraq

Lord Dobbs: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the total oil output of Iraq in 2000, 2001, 2002 and in the latest year for which figures are available.

Baroness Warsi: The Government do not produce estimates for Iraq's oil production. However, the oil company BP has produced estimates for Iraq's oil production between 2000-02 and 2011.
	
		
			 2011 2798 thousand barrelsper day (kbd) 
			 2002 2116 kbd 
			 2001 2523 kbd 
			 2000 2614 kbd 
		
	
	Source: www.bp.com/statisticalreview

Local Government: Finance

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government which local authorities made representations to them on the proposed local government finance settlement (1) in writing, and (2) by meetings with Ministers.

Baroness Hanham: A list has been placed in the Library of the House.

Maldives

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the arrest on 5 March of Mohammed Nasheed, former President of the Maldives, and of the statement by the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the judicial system in that country.

Baroness Warsi: The Government is monitoring events closely following the recent arrest and detention of former President Nasheed in Maldives. The former President has now been released subsequent to his hearing, and his trial has been postponed for four weeks. We look to the Maldivian authorities to ensure that due process is adhered to, and that proceedings are fair and transparent. We urge all parties to remain calm and to act responsibly.
	In his statement of 6 March, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt), was clear that the credibility of presidential elections will be irreparably damaged unless the chosen candidates of all parties are able to take part.
	We welcome the statement from Gabriela Knaul, the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, following her visit to Maldives. This statement urged the Maldivian Government to address a number of challenges hampering the functioning of the justice system in Maldives. These included concerns on the appointment of judges, training and education for actors in the justice system, and transparency. We share many of the concerns expressed, and urge all parties to work together in order to implement these, and other reforms identified by the Commission of National Inquiry in order to strengthen democratic institutions in Maldives. We look forward with interest to the exploration of these issues in a detailed written report which will be presented to the Human Rights Council session in May.

Marriage: Foreign Proxy Marriages

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the circumstances under which foreign proxy marriages are recognised as valid for the purposes of immigration control; and what is the basis for any such recognition under United Kingdom law.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: A proxy marriage where the ceremony takes place in the UK would not be recognised for immigration purposes. A proxy marriage which takes place overseas and is considered valid in the country where the ceremony took place would be recognised for immigration purposes, provided appropriate evidence relating to the marriage was received. The basis for the recognition of overseas proxy marriages is set out in case law.
	To obtain a spouse visa, other relationship requirements of the Immigration Rules must also be satisfied, including that the couple must have met in person and that their relationship is genuine and subsisting. Applicants must also satisfy other Immigration Rules relating to criminality, financial requirements and English language requirements before being granted a visa to enter the UK.

Migration

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish their forecast of the number of people who will come to the United Kingdom in 2014 from Bulgaria and Romania.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: I refer my noble Lord to the answer I gave on 29 January 2013, Official Report col. WA315.
	The Home Office regularly monitors and analyses overall migration data to help inform policy decisions. However, we have not prepared forecasts of likely inflows from Romania and Bulgaria once restrictions are lifted. The Government accept the view of the independent Migration Advisory Committee that to produce such estimates "would not be sensible, or helpful to policymakers".
	Rather than produce speculative forecasts, the Government's priority is to cut out abuse of free movement and address pull factors such as access to benefits and public services. The Home Office is working closely with other government departments on these issues.

Museums and Galleries

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to consider reintroducing admission charges for national museums and galleries.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government are committed to the policy of maintaining free admission to the national museums and galleries. The Government are not considering the reintroduction of entrance fees.

Planning

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the case of local planning authorities which have not adopted a new local plan by 1 April 2013, what weight can be given as material considerations in planning applications to (1) the old local plan, and (2) the emerging new local plan.

Baroness Hanham: The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that due weight should be given to relevant policies in existing plans according to their degree of consistency with the framework.
	Decision-takers may also give weight to relevant policies in emerging plans according to the stage of preparation of the emerging plan; the extent to which there are unresolved objections to relevant policies; and the degree of consistency of the relevant policies in the emerging plan to the National Planning Policy Framework.
	Seventy one per cent of local planning authorities in England now have a local plan at the publication stage or beyond.
	To place this progress in context, six years after the passage of the last Administration's Planning Act 2004, only 57 core strategies had been adopted out of 335 local planning authorities by May 2010.

Population

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to take steps to ensure that the population of Greater London does not grow beyond its level in 2013; and, if so, what steps.

Baroness Hanham: There are many factors influencing population levels in the UK, both at a national and local level, that the Government have no power to control. The Government have extensive policies in areas that affect population levels, such as immigration and health, while population levels are closely affected by policy relating to housing, employment and infrastructure to name but a few. The variation in population in different areas of the country means that no single policy on population growth or decline would be appropriate.

Prisoners: Transsexual Prisoners

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place for transsexual people who change their gender while being held in custody by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

Lord McNally: NOMS issued Prison Service Instruction 7/2011 on the care and management of transsexual prisoners in March 2011. This instruction gives detailed guidance to prison governors and their staff on caring for and managing transsexual prisoners, including issues relating to their medical treatment, location within the prison estate, change of name and living in their acquired gender role.

Rights of Way

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they propose to implement the 2026 cut-off for recording historic rights of way contained in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; and whether they plan to legislate to enable a more up-to-date and relevant rights of way network.

Lord De Mauley: Last year we consulted on a comprehensive package of rights of way reforms including the proposal that the 2026 cut-off provisions should be brought into force. We will announce the conclusions of that consultation later this year.

Rwanda

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Northover on 4 March (WS129), who will administer DfID-supported cash grants and cash for work payments in Rwanda.

Baroness Northover: DfID-supported cash grants and cash for work payments in Rwanda are administered by the Vision 2020 Umurenge programme.

Rwanda

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Northover on 4 March (WS129), how much money they are providing for the land registration programme in Rwanda; who will manage and administer that money; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that programme.

Baroness Northover: The UK will provide £21.9 million to the land tenure regularisation programme in Rwanda over four years from 2009 to 2013. HTSPE, a private sector service provider, administers and manages the programme and funds. Work supporting evaluation and programme sustainability is managed by DfID, the World Bank and the Rwanda Institute for Higher Education.
	The latest annual assessment showed that the project is on track to complete its objectives by August 2013 as planned.

Rwanda

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of their decision to re-programme their development aid in Rwanda, what is their policy on World Bank support for development in Rwanda.

Baroness Northover: As the World Bank brings funding decisions to its Board, the UK Government will decide whether to support on a case-by-case basis.

Sudan

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Governments of Egypt and Israel with regard to refugees who fall victim to people-smuggling gangs as they attempt to travel from camps in eastern Sudan to Egypt or Israel.

Baroness Warsi: The Government remain concerned about reports of people-trafficking in the Sinai. We have raised these concerns with the Egyptian and Israeli authorities, most recently by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), during an official visit to Israel in November 2012.
	We have also raised the treatment of refugees in Sinai with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Cairo, the organisation which is delegated by the Egyptian government to deal with asylum seekers in Egypt.

Telephone Calls: Silent and Nuisance Calls

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to improve consumer rights in response to silent and nuisance telephone calls.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries (Ed Vaizey) has met with the Office of Communications (Ofcom) regarding silent and abandoned calls, and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), concerning unsolicited marketing calls, three times since July 2012, to improve the effectiveness of the current regulatory system. Consequently, significant improvements have been achieved in improving information available to consumers, through simpler website pages and a new Ofcom consumer guide, as well as a focus on improved enforcement action against those found in breach of the regulations. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will also include representatives from consumer groups in a forthcoming round table on this issue, which will consider what further improvements can be made. Also, Ofcom has improved and clarified information, which is provided to consumers online at: http://consumers. ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/telecoms/privacy and their consumer guide provides detailed background information and signposts the correct place to make a complaint about the full range of nuisance calls at http://consumers. ofcom.org.uk/2012/10/tackling-nuisance-calls-and-messages.

Terrorism Act 2000

Lord Ahmed: to ask Her Majesty's Government, for each year since 2010, how many people have been arrested for terrorism-related offences under Schedule 7 (Port and Border Controls) to the Terrorism Act 2000; and how many were subsequently convicted of a terrorism-related offence.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Paragraph 18 of Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000 provides for offences including wilfully failing to comply with a duty imposed by or under Schedule 7. The number of persons arrested for an offence under paragraph 18 in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 and the outcome of terrorism arrests, including convictions, was published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin (HOSB 11/12) on 13 September 2012. Information collated by the Association of Chief Police Officers indicates that, as a result of Schedule 7 examinations, there were 31 terrorism-related arrests at ports in 2010-11 and 24 terrorism-related arrests at ports in 2011-12.

Terrorism Act 2000

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the biometric data taken from people examined or detained under Schedule 7 (Port and Border Controls) to the Terrorism Act 2000, but not charged with any offence, has been destroyed in accordance with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2011.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 has yet to be commenced. I made a statement on its implementation, including destruction of existing biometric material, on 13 December 2012 (Official Report, col. WS160). Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the 2012 Act will apply to material subject to the Terrorism Act 2000, including Schedule 7.

UK Border Agency

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the UK Border Agency's (1) efficiency in dealing with applications within a set period of time, and (2) frequency of communication with applicants seeking asylum whose decisions are delayed for (a) six months, and (b) a year or more.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The UK Border Agency publishes its annual asylum performance against 15 key performance measures. These measure a wide variety of factors including case processing times. Specifically, however;
	Asylum intakeWork in Progress (WiP) casesIntake Asylum support costsProductivityAsylum unit cost Initial decisions in 30 daysCases concluded in 6 monthsCases concluded in 12 monthsCases concluded in 35 monthsCases removed in 12 monthsDecision qualityAppeal representation rateAppeal win rateAsylum grant rate
	Our most recent published statistics are in the link below:
	http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/further-key-data/
	The statistics show a system that is stabilising, with most "speed" measures (i.e. how quickly cases are decided or concluded) showing signs of improvement remaining the same:
	Asylum cases in work in progress (WiP) (down from 37,903 in financial year (FY) 10/11, to 37,381 in FY 11/12)Asylum cases concluded within 12 months (up from 56% in FY 10/11, to 63% in FY 11/12)Asylum cases concluded within 36 months (up from 63% in FY 10/11, to 70% in FY 11/12)Asylum cases removed within 12 months (up from 19% in FY 10/11, to 22% in FY 11/12)
	We have also recently recruited a substantial number of new asylum decision makers and this, combined with improved productivity, is helping us to deliver improved performance.

UN: International Year of Water Co-operation

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have plans to fund activities and polices during 2013 related to the United Nations International Year of Water Co-operation; and whether they will report on any action taken at the end of the year.

Baroness Northover: The Government have no plans to fund new activities and policies related to the United Nations International Year of Water Co-operation. The Government will however continue to provide support for water co-operation through programmes they are currently funding. These include: the water security programme, which will help 18 million people to access sustainable water services; and, water co-operation programmes in south Asia, southern Africa and the Nile Basin.
	The Government have no plans to report specifically on the International Year of Water Co-operation but will work through normal departmental reporting and through parliamentary mechanisms to ensure that Parliament is kept informed about HMG work on water co-operation.

Veterans Agency

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 26 February (WA280), what subsequent campaigns there have been to promote the services provided by the Veterans Agency that were refined by the lessons learnt from the Raising Awareness campaign in 2006.

Lord Astor of Hever: Following the success of the Raising Awareness campaign in the Newcastle and Tyneside area, further campaigns were organised in Birmingham, Portsmouth, York, Plymouth, Colchester and Edinburgh between 2006 and 2009.
	The number of calls to the Veterans Helpline from each area showed an overall increase both during and after the campaigns.